Vectolabs wins Petronas contract For AI-Based Transport Safety System

• System co-developed with Petronas Digital, real time enforcement of safety
• System is illustrative of digitalisation effort merging with the HSE culture

Vectolabs Technologies Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provider today announced that it has secured a contract with Petronas Digital Sdn Bhd (PDSB) to provide a solution that enforces safety precautions to Petronas fleets of heavy vehicles.

The Edge AI Transport Safety System is co-developed with PDSB and enables real-time enforcement of Petronas safety management policy with the first deployment ongoing for 150 heavy vehicles until the end of 2021.

The AI models are developed and optimised by data scientists of PDSB with Vectolabs as the hardware partner. The solution was sparked by the need to address safety issues related to heavy vehicles while sharing the roads and highways with the public and to adhere to the Petronas Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) policy. Traditional method of sampling video footage is no longer viable or scalable when an organisation has to manage a fleet of vehicles that travels long distances and long hours with safety being paramount.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds the promise of increasing productivity, efficiency and safety in several sectors, including transport, and these changes are not in some distant future; they are happening now. AI is changing the transport sector and is helping to make all transport modes safer, cleaner, smarter and more comfortable for other road users as well.

As drivers' behaviour is the main contributing factor in accidents, the AI technology provides a proactive approach by correcting unsafe behaviours immediately as compared to traditional methods of sampling video footage to train and correct drivers after a trip is completed. Heavy vehicles have a higher risk of traffic injury because they are driven long distances that lead to driver fatigue. The AI system catches safety violations such as drowsiness, use of mobile phones, not checking mirrors, distracted driving (eating, drinking, or smoking), and not wearing seat belts. The AI system only detects violations and provides privacy for the drivers when they are not driving. The system also detects violations using telematics data via the vehicle’s Controller Area Network (CANBUS).

“The system catches speed violations using telematics data which is highly accurate as compared to a GPS system that may not be able to contribute towards a wholesome detection at the time when there are no signals when the vehicles go under a bridge, overpass or tunnels, for example. Once the AI models catch any safety violations, the drivers are immediately alerted audibly and a report is sent to the HQ for further action towards the drivers, taking a proactive approach rather than the current reactive approach,” explains Faizal Ali (pic), CEO and founder of Vectolabs.

To Faizal, the development of this system is illustrative of Petronas digitalisation effort merging with their HSE culture which permeates in everything they do. PDSB is leveraging AI technologies to enforce safety management policies proactively by detecting near-misses and correcting unsafe behaviour in real time to make the road safer for everyone.

Vectolabs client list includes Bateriku.com, Alam Flora and TMOne. They recently set up the IoT Infrastructure for the first application of smart street lighting in Presint 15, Putrajaya, together with Perbadanan Putrajaya.  The initiative is the first municipal operated IoT infrastructure in Malaysia using LoRa technology to boost initiatives under the Putrajaya Smart City Blueprint.

In its early days Vectolabs was a Malaysian Technology Development Corporation Business Start-Up Fund recipient before it began developing Internet of Things solutions and smart devices in 2016.  From a developer of safety braking lights,  the Vololights — an LED-based motorcycle brake light that provides visual warnings when a motorcycle decelerates, the company expanded its product range to include the smart streetlights called Vectolights utilising IoT technology.

[Ed: Para added with additional background on Vectolabs.]